kst1
Plots scientific data
Usage
kst
kst-
kst [-F DATASOURCE] [-f STARTFRAME] [-n NUMFRAMES] [-s FRAMESPERSAMPLE [-a]] kstfile
kst-
kst datasource [-f STARTFRAME] [-n NUMFRAMES] [-s FRAMESPERSAMPLE [-a]] [-P PLOTNAME] [-A] [-d] [-l] [-b] [-x FIELD] [-e FIELD] [-r RATE] [-y FIELD] [-p FIELD] [-h FIELD] [-z FIELD] [--png filename] [--print filename [{--landscape | --portrait}] [{--Letter | --A4}]]
Overview
kst is a graphical data plotting tool, which includes the ability to plot live data (contiuously update the plot as new data becomes available).
kst may be run entirely from within its GUI, in which case no command line arguments are needed. kst has a powerful wizard for easily setting up new plots.
In the second invocation, kst loads pre-saved plot specifications from the file kstfile and optionally may override some of the settings in that file.
In the third invocation, kst displays plots of the data as directed in the default manner. Additional datasources may be specified on the command line with options for that datasource following it. Command line options generally apply to all subsequent options unless later overridden.
Options
-
-A -
plot all curves in separate plots
-
-a -
average frames (simple mean) when plotting with
-s.
-
--A4 -
use A4 sized paper for printing. Requires
--print.
-
-b -
plot as bargraphs.
-
-d -
use points when plotting curves.
-
-e FIELD -
useFIELD as the magnitude of error bars applied to the next plot.
-
-F datasource -
override the datasource indicated in the kstfile and instead use datasource.
-
-f STARTFRAME -
begin plotting at STARTFRAME frames into the data. Set to -1 to start at NUMFRAMES from the end of the data.
-
-h FIELD -
plotFIELD as a histogram.
-
-l -
use lines when plotting curves.
-
--landscape -
use landscape orientation for printing. Requires
--print.--Letteruse US Letter sized paper for printing. Requires--print.
-
-n NUMFRAMES -
plot at most NUMFRAMES frames of data. Set to -1 to indicate all of the data.
-
-P PLOTNAME -
plot all plots in the plot named PLOTNAME.
-
-p FIELD -
plotFIELD as a power spectrum plot.
-
--png filename -
render to a portable network graphics (png) image with file name filename and quit.
-
--portrait -
use portrait orientation for printing. Requires
--print.
-
--print filename -
print the plot to file filename and quit.
-
-s FRAMESPERSAMPLE -
plot every FRAMESPERSAMPLE frames when plotting.
-
-x FIELD -
useFIELD as the X-axis vector.
-
-y FIELD -
plotFIELD as an XY plot.
-
-z FIELD -
plotFIELD as an image.
Examples
Plot all data in column 2 from data.dat.
kst data.dat -y 2
Same as above, except only read 20 lines, starting at line 10.
kst data.dat -f 10 -n 20 -y 2
also read col 1. One plot per curve.
kst data.dat -f 10 -n 20 -y 1 -y 2
Read col 1 from data2.dat and col 1 from data.dat
kst data.dat -f 10 -n 20 -y 2 data2.dat -y 1
Same as above, except read 40 lines starting at 30 in data2.dat
kst data.dat -f 10 -n 20 -y 2 data2.dat -f 30 -n 40 -y 1
Specify the X vector and error bars: Plot x = col 1 and Y = col 2 and error flags = col 3 from data.dat
kst data.dat -x 1 -e 3 -y 2
Get the X vector from data1.dat, and the Y vector from data2.dat.
kst data1.dat -x 1 data2.dat -y 1
Placement: Plot column 2 and column 3 in plot P1 and column 4 in plot P2
kst data.dat -P P1 -y 2 -y 3 -P P2 -y 4
Releases
5 releases since Debian 3.1 (Sarge); the text changed 3 times.
--A4 since Arch Linux 2026-11-01;
--landscape since Arch Linux 2026-11-01;
--portrait since Arch Linux 2026-11-01;
-A since Arch Linux 2026-11-01;
-P since Arch Linux 2026-11-01;
-b since Arch Linux 2026-11-01;
-d since Arch Linux 2026-11-01;
-z since Debian 4.0 (Etch).
--nq until Debian 6.0 (Squeeze);
--ru until Debian 6.0 (Squeeze);
--xe until Debian 6.0 (Squeeze);
--ye until Debian 6.0 (Squeeze);
--yu until Debian 6.0 (Squeeze);
-E until Debian 6.0 (Squeeze);
-g until Debian 6.0 (Squeeze);
-m until Debian 6.0 (Squeeze);
-r until Debian 6.0 (Squeeze);
-w until Debian 6.0 (Squeeze).